Ghosts of Christmases Past (Photo Glut)

Hello Finging Fiends! Happy New Year! Sorry that this is a month late lol. I hope all of your Holidays went well! Mine were ok... they could have been better, but I felt homesick, tired and uninspired.  The holidays were pretty rough for me because I am unemployed, but since I am creative I made jewelery and finished a painting for my oldest sister's birthday.  I was fired around this time last year and it sucked that I found myself unemployed 2 Christmases in a row.  There was a lot of moping and crying and me feeling sorry for myself. I guess it was naive of me to think that I would have found something by now, but 4 months is the longest I have ever been out of work and things are getting kind of grim.

I'm trying to stay productive and keep busy job hunting as well as keeping my spirits up.  I had some parties to go to before Christmas, so that felt good.  It was also my Hubs's birthday on December 22, so that was a pretty fun party.  I was kind of annoyed that I baked so much and nobody ate it! He loved his cake, but I was like "Is everyone on a diet... before Christmas?! Is my baking really bad? Am I the only one who likes sweets and is that why I look like Momma June whilst everyone is slimming down?".  It is stupid now that I see in writing what goes through my head when I feel anxious.  It feels good to get it out and laugh at my imbalanced brain.

I did some really great nail art over the holidays so I'm just going to post a photo glut, then once I am up to date I will post more often (ha ha let's see how long this Resolution lasts... hey shut up brain! I resolve to not fall for your negativity!). There will be many posts with just photos and less rambling because I am still new here.  I may make a second blog with more personal stuff : ) since I have so many photos to share and maybe you are not here for whinies, but here for the shinies.

I wanted my nails to look like a soft early morning snofall.  This design was pretty sweet and subtle.

Penny the tortie cat under the tree.

Some of my favourite decorations. Frog Flapper Lady and Frog Dapper Gentleman... and a mushroom.

The Angel looked lonely, so Jack Skellington Serenaded her.

Penny waiting for Santa.

Nothing says Christmas like a Pickle ornament! I lost the star on my Christmas tree nail art.

Paaaaaaarty!

Glitter and a Chikadee.

The oh-so-popular snowflake.

Cult Nails Flushed, Claire's Mystical and a Color Club's Wild at Heart.  My 3 current faves... it was like Christmas came early!

Penny sneaking into the background... or me intentionally putting her there because of her cuteness.

If you like any of the art, you can ask me in the comments what nail polish I used.  I didn't really feel like listing all the stuff I used.  I got a Helmer for Christmas (Yay! Thanks Hubs!) and I am currently re-organizing my collection.

Now How Did That Get Here?

I have been purchasing nail polish very slowly right now because I'm unemployed.  Its good because I'm wearing polishes that I never wore before.  I can only break the rules if I come into some extra cash like finding $40 bucks in my jeans... I suspect my mom put it there because I don't put anything in my back pockets. I don't think she gets that I'm supposed to compensate her for hemming my pants, but she may have felt bad for my broke ass. My hubby didn't know about the extra cash and he will not know about the new polishes because he doesn't read this blog... but when he does oh boy! Is this me technically coming clean about lying? Yes.

So starting today December 1st I am on a no-buy.  I got such good deals recently that I  don't want to jinx my good polish luck by buying duds.  I am an addict clearly, but when I see Color Club for $3-5 and it is Christmas stuff (well Christmas collections of years past and older stuff on clearance at Jessica Nail Supply on Orfus Road) there is no way I can pass that up! So this is a compilation of my most recent haul.  There is also some Claire's glitters because the Claire's at Fairview Mall must have found some old stock during the renovations.  They had their usual buy 2 get 1 free or whatever, but the one I picked was on sale for less than two bucks so I was encouraged to get another (damn that salesgirl twisted my rubber arm).

I also had to get Flushed by Cult Nails because Marta from Chit Chat Nails made me do it! Marta inspired me to start this blog and when I saw Flushed on her I had to have it.  See? Addicted. With addiction there also comes shame because I picked up this one from Essence:

Jacob's Protection from the Twilight Breaking Dawn collection.

Oh man I am never going to live this down, but it was such a deal! Only $2 and I was buying mascara anyway (Loreal Voluminous in Carbon Black, can't look alive without it). I'm so embarrassed to have purchased this because I'm not a Twi-hard at all.  I managed to choke down the first book and could go no further because it was so poorly written.  All computers have a thesaurus so I have determined that she hand wrote it or it was type written.  No wait! That is no excuse because you can buy one at the dollar store or go to your local library for writing help.  It was so bad that I couldn't bring myself to watch the movies.  I know it is geared towards teens, but how stupid does Stephanie Meyer think teens are?  Its insulting and Bella was the weakest character I have ever encountered. Hey my blog, my opinions : ). This probably won't gain me any pageviews, but if I can't say what is on my mind here then where can I?

Anyway back to pictures of shiny things!

Nail of the week: Love and Beauty Safari (the only one with a name!), stamped with plates BM07 and BM20 using Essie As Good As Gold.  This one is awesome for stamping!  I was dreaming of something baroque after looking at some Mary Katranzou  dresses.

From L to R: Cacee BFE Motion Dazzle (I have never heard of this stuff before but it is 3 free), Color Club Wild at Heart (a longtime Lemming thanks to Scrangie), Color Club Art of Seduction, Color Club Gingerbread

L to R all by Claire's: Marshmallow Dream (iridescent micro and hex glitter in a clear base, a dupe of China Glaze Make a Spectacle), Mystical (magenta and light blue microglitter), Ultraviolet (lilac circular glitter and hex holo pieces, a few silver squares for good measure), Pinata (mutlicoloured shards of gold, silver, magenta, blue green and red)

Closer shots... look at pinata! How fun!

Loving these two : )

My very first Cult Nails! I hope Santa brings me some of the Convert Packs. I really want 1, 3 and 4 as they aren't available individually.

 

 

So pretty! It reminds me of the paler cousin of Rimmel's Night before. 

How about those, huh? So pretty I can't wait to swatch!  I will be using my laptop for my blogging instead of just using it for TV (well that and the Wii... Netflix is pretty awesome and we don't have cable!).  My phone is not very good with closeups and as you can see I need better photos.  The desktop can't read the camera memory cards and the cords are long gone (maybe we never had them?). The laptops ports are still in good shape so hopefully my next posts will have better photos.  I mean my Nokia C6 is not terrible but it is not that great either. I will try and get my next post out ASAP because I have some electrical work to do around the house and I can't get bogged down in my job hunt.  Wish me luck!
-A.C.

Hair Care (Tips and Tricks)

I'm going to share a bit of how I take care of my hair.  I have Natural curly hair that is dark brown with a bit of auburn in it (ends and highlights from sun/ swimming) type 3c/4a/4b.  I have put henna in my hair a few times for strength and to darken it if I swam too much (not this year!).  I hate having my hair straight and I hate tight braids.  I loathe any form of heat styling including blow drying, flat ironing and especially the hot comb.  The few times anyone has ever approached me with that medieval torture device nearly resulted in me going to jail, losing my mind or jumping through the roof at the sensation of my hair being Kentucky fried.

Before: relaxed hair.  My hair was fairly healthy because I only relaxed 3-4 times a year and I would press only the parts showing when my hair was down. Look at my ends though... gah!

I like easy maintenance that comes with natural curly hair (no more heat styling! wash and go!).  I like that if my style is jacked up I can just wet my hair and start over again.  I like that I can wash my hair as often as I like or need.  I have eczema on my scalp and I have learned what to use in moderation and what to avoid in general.

After: natural hair after my first henna treatment.  My ends were a bright coppery orange before due to swimming and sun.

Here is my typical routine:
-Wash sectioned hair with Dr. Bronner magic soap (I dilute .5 oz tea tree oil and .5 oz lavender in 7 oz of water in a squeeze bottle) once a week
-Immediately after washing each section apply Tresemme Naturals Nourishing Moisture Conditioner and some olive oil
-I leave my hair clipped in sections with the conditioner and oil while I shower, shave, exfoliate and moisturize (I add a shea oil mix to my skin while it is wet to keep in moisture) which takes about 5-10 minutes
-I detangle each section with the conditioner and oil in using my modified faux Denman brush (I removed every other row, but hopefully Santa will bring me a Denman D41 Freeflow) starting at the ends and moving up
-I rinse out each section and add a leave in conditioner like Giovanni Direct Leave in or Queen Helene Royal Curl Conditioner
-I wrap my head in a microfibre turban or an old T shirt to dry my hair while I dab my body dry
-If I'm going out I will add coconut oil and put my hair in a bun or a puff when mostly dry (if it is warm out I'll just leave it out)
-If I'm staying in I will use oil, gel or a curl pudding and twist my hair while damp, then I'll take out the twists the next day
- Once my hair has been out for 2-3 days I will wash my scalp with just conditioner and finger detangle the ends, then I will style as usual

I know it sounds a bit complicated but it is actually better for my hair and easier than the straightening and wasting the money at salons for relaxers.  The products I try to avoid include sulfates, silicones and mineral oil.  They show up in ingredients as sodium laureth sulfate or ammonium lauryl sulfate, dimethicone or amodimethicone and parrafinium liquidium.  I also try to avoid parabens because they mimic estrogens and can cause hormonal imbalance. I only use a shampoo with SLS once a month to clarify (clean any buildup) because it dries out my hair and irritates my scalp.  I try to avoid silicones because they don't allow hair to breathe and lock out moisture.  They cause further buildup and the only way they can be removed is with SLS (which dries out the hair and continues a vicious cycle).  The only one that is water soluble is Amodimethicone, but it still causes buildup.  I don't use mineral oil on my hair for the same reason. Washing your hair less is actually really good for it especially if you colour because your hair uses its own oils.  After a few weeks of it seeming greasy your hair will balance out.  In the meantime you can use a dry shampoo in between washes which has the added benefit of adding body to fine hair (trust me I have a flop fro lol).

If you have any scalp problems I recommend staying away from these products as well.  I had traction alopecia from braids a few years ago but I oil my scalp 2-3 times a week (after washing) with castor oil and a few drops of tea tree oil mixed in. I have seen tremendous growth and retention with this mixture.

I hope these tips help because they can be applied to any hair type and the baddies I try not to use are not good for anyone! If you have any questions please leave a comment or email me.

-A.C.